This invention relates to the use of gamma vinyl-GABA and other GABAergic agents to reduce or eliminate the symptoms associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and OCD-related disorders. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder effects a large portion of the population and can be disabling.
OCD has been linked to and can include one or more of the following OCD-related disorders: obsessive behavior, compulsive behavior, general anxiety disorder (GAD), pathological gambling, compulsive overeating, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), hypochondriasis, pathologic grooming conditions (e.g. nail biting, skin picking, trichotillomania), kleptomania, pyromania, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AHDH), and any other impulse control disorder.
The fact that many individuals with OCD suffer from one or more OCD-related disorders may be due to the discovery that individuals who suffer from OCD or OCD-related disorders, demonstrate similar chemical imbalances in the brain and respond to similar drug therapies. For example, some research suggests that OCD involves problems with communication between the orbital cortex and the basal ganglia of the brain. These brain structures use the chemical messenger serotonin. Drugs that increase brain concentrations of serotonin have been used to treat OCD symptoms as well as symptoms of OCD-related disorders.
In the past, OCD and OCD-related disorders have been treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) such as Clomipramine, Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, Paroxetine, Sertraline and Citalopram. These medications increase the concentration of serotonin in the brain.
Unfortunately, fewer than 20% of patents suffering from OCD and OCD-related disorders treated with SRIs have their OCD behavior eliminated. In addition, there are numerous side effects identified with SRIs which include: nervousness, insomnia, restlessness, nausea, diarrhea, weight gain and sexual problems.
Other research has suggested that the role of neurochemical systems in OCD and OCD-related disorders is unclear and that the serotonergic abnormalities in OCD patients may be a secondary phenomenon.
Several approaches to treating OCD and OCD-related disorders have been put forward, each based on a rather different framework. Overlap exists among these approaches, indicating that the neurobiology of OCD and OCD-related disorders is consolidated. The development of one effective treatment for OCD and all of the OCD-related disorders would be very beneficial. Accordingly, there is still a need in the treatment of OCD and OCD-related disorders to provide new methods which can reduce or eliminate the associated behaviors.
The present invention, which addresses the needs of the prior art, provides methods for treating a mammal suffering from OCD and OCD-related disorders by administering to a mammal suffering from OCD and/or OCD-related disorders, an effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition including gamma vinylGABA (GVG).
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a method for reducing or eliminating behaviors associated with OCD and OCD related disorders in a mammal suffering from OCD and/or OCD-related disorders. The method comprises administering to said mammal, an effective amount of a composition including gamma vinylGABA (GVG) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, or an enantiomer or a racemic mixture thereof, wherein the effective amount reduces or eliminates behaviors associated with OCD and OCD-related disorders.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the method includes reducing or eliminating behaviors associated with OCD and OCD-related disorders in a mammal suffering from OCD. The method comprises administering to the mammal, an effective amount of a composition that increases central nervous system GABA levels, wherein the effective amount is sufficient to reduce or eliminate behaviors associated with OCD and OCD-related disorders.
As a result of the present invention, methods of reducing or eliminating behaviors associated with OCD and OCD-related disorders are provided which are based on pharmaceutical compositions which are highly effective in reducing or eliminating behaviors associated with OCD and OCD-related disorders in individuals suffering from OCD and OCD-related disorders.
The pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention provide treatments for OCD and OCD-related disorders that are very well tolerated and more efficacious than the current treatments available.
Other improvements over the prior art which are provided by the present invention will be identified as a result of the following description which sets forth the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The description is not in any way intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but rather only to provide a working example of the present preferred embodiments. The scope of the present invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.